The Press Gallery dinner just isn’t funny anymore

“My funny speech wasn’t funny. That’s not the first time a politician has done that,” the Green Party leader told Canadian Press, describing how the f-bomb punchline in her speech at the annual Press Gallery Dinner misfired.

May’s correct. She wasn’t the first pol to blow it.

Pierre Trudeau once muttered his way through a chock-full-of-gags speech, crafted for weeks by PMO speechwriters, as if he had never seen the text before. He didn’t get the jokes. Nor did he much care.

PET could never hide his boredom in the presence of reporters. But at least he showed up for the gala event, now known on Twitter as #nerdprom.

PM Stephen Harper doesn’t attend. His last attempt to make reporters laugh was when he was still the Opposition leader. Harper’s life was funnier then.

Not all Tory leaders have been sticks in the mud. Joe Clark, amazingly, was a hoot. And if Brian Mulroney hadn’t gone into politics he could have done stand-up in Vegas.

The tradition at the annual gallery dinner was for party leaders to get up and deliver self-deprecating, off-the-record speeches, punctuated with a ribald barb or two aimed at big-time media stars whose names I now forget. But then the dinner became an on-the-record event and it wasn’t as much fun anymore.

News bureau chiefs still encouraged their reporters to attend and to take along cabinet ministers and other VIPs as their “dates”. An informal evening of good-natured socializing among pundits and pols was supposed to help cement relations and to pay later dividends in the form of scoops from well-placed sources.

Over the years, my dates included a deputy prime minister, a justice minister, a UN ambassador, a defence minister and a string of up-and-coming backbenchers I thought were surely destined for cabinet.

At a time when the Duffy-Harper case and other political horror stories are scandalizing the country, we need to reassert professional independence and restore credibility.

It didn’t work out. I can’t recall any of my dates ever filling my ear with hot insider information from the caucus or cabinet. The best I could hope for was that they would sometimes take my call — and give me a ‘no comment’.

I’m getting old. The thought of arranging a date, getting gussied up in a tux and spending a Saturday night drinking and dining with pols during the hockey playoffs seems like having to go to the office picnic at Dunder Mifflin.

She’s never been a party pooper. But Delacourt makes the point that, in 2015, chummy-buddy social gatherings like the gallery dinner reinforce the widely-held public belief that reporters and politicians are in cahoots and think of themselves as an elite class.

At a time when the Duffy-Harper case and other political horror stories are scandalizing the country, we need to reassert professional independence and restore credibility.

Like other Canadians, we should stay home and watch hockey.

When a source is wrong

After making such a big deal of telling journalists they mustn’t show photos of the faces of Canadian soldiers standing in the background during PM Stephen Harper’s pop-up publicity trip to war-ravaged Iraq last week, it was the PMO itself that broke the security rules.

Video destined for prime-time Tory paid political ads on TV later this fall got a preview on Harper’s website. Lo and behold, those perplexed-looking soldiers in the background are Canadians.

When the press corps started asking about this apparent security breach, a PMO spokesman’s first reaction was to say the military brass had given its OK for the release of the footage.

Well, that wasn’t true. But it took eight hours for PMO communications director Rob Nicol to say that the video was being pulled from the website after a “second review.”

This is important for two reasons. It shows that when things go wrong, the PMO’s first instinct is to blame the bureaucracy — something the Tories have done more than once. The incident also raises questions about the credibility of Harper’s public relations apparatus.

So did Nicol and the communications staff just make up the initial explanation that DND vetted the video before release? That’s unlikely. It was probably someone higher up the PMO food chain.

But it’s Nicol’s credibility on the line. He’d be wise to double-check the truthiness of the tale he’s told to spin the next time the PMO is ducking for cover.

Jeff Sallot is one of Canada’s most experienced and respected political writers. He worked for The Globe and Mail for more than three decades, much of the time as a political journalist based in Ottawa. He started his career in political journalism at The Toronto Star when Pierre Trudeau was prime minister. He taught journalism at Carleton University for seven years until he retired in 2014.

The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of iPolitics.

19 comments on “The Press Gallery dinner just isn’t funny anymore”

“Delacourt makes the point that, in 2015, chummy-buddy social gatherings like the gallery dinner reinforce the widely-held public belief that reporters and politicians are in cahoots and think of themselves as an elite class.

At a time when the Duffy-Harper case and other political horror stories are scandalizing the country, we need to reassert professional independence and restore credibility.

Like other Canadians, we should stay home and watch hockey.”

I agree. Today, there is far too much schmoozing, and apparently little shame or concern that our media will be perceived as biased or less than objective by virtue of their off-time socialization. Today, we the public are treated to numerous “selfies” and video clips showing media figures in very chummy aspect with the people who run this country.

Not kosher at all. One can be respectful, polite, friendly in demeanour and still maintain appropriate professional distance. I’m sure it’s made difficult today when “everyone’s doing it”, but that distance needs to be absolutely maintained.

I agree, but there is also something very wrong that has been going on within our media in dealing with this particular government. An almost inexplicable inability to demand proof whenever there is doubt about any statement or outrageous act such as equating criticism against certain economic policy as a criminal act. And there have been far more of these veil threats noted, coming from conservatives.

So many, that people now say, they just don’t believe the first utterances out of any of Harper’s reps or ministers. Over time the lack of efficacy has led to deep mistrust—its as though lying in now acceptable because no one gets thoroughly call out, on it. Maybe this is what comes from this particular party’s view of themselves as a majority.

Hearing a similar weird remark made by Cameron in a speech, at the UN, only underlines this is not unique to us. Or it may point to more communication between G-8 leaders than is known. Imagine, simply criticizing a politician or and governmental act, can be somehow cast as a remark by an ‘extreme dissenter’. This describes a ‘thought crime’ and is absurd, but a similar term was used to describe a political climate that is so thinned-skin it can no afford to take any dissent, whatsoever. Maybe because it really isn’t acting in the ‘best’ interests of anyone actually paying their fair share of taxes?

It is simple really, ad revenues are down and the government has stepped up. You don’t step on your advertisers and sources of income. The government has effectively bought up the stuff it doesn’t control (CBC). It is all about the money.

The ubiquitous Ms. Rempel famously tweeted her selfie from her bedroom no less!
The entire aspect of boundaries and a sense of place and respect has been tossed into a blender and
is thrown at us like the incoherent mush that it is.
This CAN be changed and if people like Solomon, Milewski and Hall really take a long hard look at themselves and what they’re doing, then we can see a dramatic and necessary change.
In my many days in network newsrooms, we would have been fired, pronto, for the jocular frat boy nonsense that we are served regularly. No Harp, you’re right, respect, basic manners and decency are fine but that’s where it stops.
I’m sick to death of hearing Powers and Capstick and the egregious Mills (what is she DOING on this show anyway?) acting like entertainers and bad ones at that.
All of them have become so diminished and compromised, with the odd exception of the amazing Rob Silver, and we all lose. He nails it every time with his logic and reality checks.
It is not too late for a serious moratorium among the gang who run the shows to sit down, have an adult conversation, and commit to taking their responsibilities seriously.
As for CBC, it’s nigh impossible to listen to Calandra, Bezan, Trottier, and all the other Tories booting their way over everyone else, including the hosts, and all the while NEVER answering a direct question!
Again, heads would have rolled if that happened once let alone daily!!!
Maybe I’m naïve here but I think Solomon is definitely trying to put a cork in the Tories and create the level of seriousness which this country desperately needs and deserves right now.
Milewski was just superb doing Power and Politics last week.
Thibedeau sounds more like a cheerleader than a reporter and one wonders just who are her best friends?
Barton can be terrific when she chooses but again is inconsistent and all over the map.
Does anyone remember the marvelous Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer and Charlayne Hunter Gault?
Never ever in our dreams would they behave so unprofessionally.
Let’s not give up on CBC but let’s demand that they do a major revamp.
At this point, they have not a thing to lose by honouring their own and not the ingrates who insult us all.

I agree, of course, but think the viewers have a lot to do with the dumbed down content (and process!) we see on these “news” shows these days. People want to be entertained, not informed, and have the attention spans of gnats. So this is what we end up with – market driven news.

I don’t see us ever being able to roll back our societal stupidification! It’s probably the thing I lament most about the times in which we live. :(

My first instinct was to ask if students really don’t want to learn anymore and merely be entertained?
I don’t think so from the many I know.
Lately I’ve been wondering just what the ratings are for some of these shows…some must be in real trouble.
But eternal optimist that I am, I think about the over the moon ratings for The Journal and Barbara Frum. I really believe that given the choice, Canadians would rather hear from Jim Stanford, Jerry Dias, Tom Rand, and so many progressive thinkers and doers than the likes of the lobbyists and pundits.
The lobbyists truly drive me insane. What are they doing taking up our precious time and
what on Earth are they contributing? Summa sometimes has three of their people on one show!!! That’s absurd. And all they are doing is pushing for their clients. It’s gross!
No, I really think that Canadian people really want to hear from the genuine authentic people…ever notice that when Mulcair or Trudeau are speaking in scrums, it’s almost as it they’re from another country!! They’re open, direct, warm, admit they’re wrong if they are, and more specifically they show respect for all of us.
We don’t have to agree with everyone…that would be nutty…but we have a rich history of wanting engagement and dialogue. Harper has devoted his Life’s work to dumbing that down, but he has not succeeded. He’s created a terrible awful climate of deceit,
dishonesty, sarcasm, disrespect and smarminess. But we ARE much much better than that nonsense. He really thinks we can all be bought with a few dollars and he’s dead wrong.
This latest gruesome flyer of the aborted fetus beside Trudeau’s photo being sent to all Canadian homes is the ultimate in his growing carelessness. And it has to be stopped.
Men who are finding these in their mail slots are horrified and protesting about it.
Of course the PMO isn’t sending them, Campaign Life is, but Harper you can be sure and Kenney, the anti abortionist crusader of all time, are surely thrilled.
It is in fact, disgusting and I think so violent it should be stopped.
Sorry for the rant, No Harp, but it is an important conversation.
I have a lot of hope for the true character of the people in this country.
We cannot and will not be defined by the Harpers and Kenneys and MacKays and
Clements of this world. They are truly beneath us
Cheers!!!.

It’s terrifying to think what will happen to democracy and society’s ability to constrain the powerful when the media acts like ever-more-desperate lap dogs. After all, the biggest advertiser in Canada is the federal government, and CTV and Global (and all sorts of other media) are all too happy to line up and beg to advertising dollars. It begs the question: who is really breaching the public trust?

What Elizabeth May said was true. The media, especially CBC have been unrelenting in their disapproval but they should take a look at their own actions. They have virtually given this government a pass when it comes to criticism or questions. CBC’s Power and Politics might as well be a CON government spokesthingy they are so partisan. They allow the CONS to speak above and over everyone else and let them go on ad nauseam. It wouldn’t be so bad but they all ‘sound and say’ the same bloody thing and have been for the last 8/9 years “we are good … everybody else bad” “we tell truth … everybody else lie”. However their actions speak louder than words and those with clear eyesight and a working brain know who and what they are and if they don’t then they are obviously too busy facebooking or tweeting or some other ‘silly’ thing instead of living.

This cozy little dinner is disgusting. And Liz was right about everything. This little gaff got more air time by far than when the PM took cheat sheets to the debate when it wasn’t allowed. If he had been in high school he would have been expelled. They gave him a -ass. It’s either bias 9or lack of judgement or laziness. I don’t respect most of our media anymore.

Anne So agree with you! May indeed was running on empty with fatigue, but to be honest, many of us would lose our minds over this damned so called government over much less. How the principled people
like May stand it defies credulity. It’s enough to drive some to drink!!!